Rotary seal



Jluly 24, 1,951

W. GILBERT, SR

ROTARY SEAL Filed on. 1s, 194s n a 6 2 2 f j v.A MJ/ Z3 m m/ n s45/.Ww wm v l ...,f a n w ,ff//w Lm A f m. A n M r @en Lw a. ,2, w 3 z u x 6 l Y Patented July 24, 1951 no'rAnY SEAL Walter Gilbert, Sr., Indiana, Pa., assignor to Syntron Company, Homer City, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application October 18, 1946, Serial No. 704,087

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to apparatus for sealing relatively moving members against leakage of gas or any other fluid therebetween and more particularly for sealing rods or rapldly rotating shafts.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an efflcient and economical seal having a relatively few number of parts and which is applicable to a variety of installations or uses.

Another object is the provision of a unitary sealing member arranged to be seated on one member and seal the other member that has relative rotary .motion to the first member.

Another object is the provision of a resilient ceiling member encased ina xed envelope and which depends upon the inherent resiliency of the sealing member to produce the seal.

Other objects and advantages appear from the following description and claims.

it. practical embodiment illustrating the princlples of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. l is a sectional view of the sealing member shown as a free body.

Fig. 2 is an exploded view in section showing all of the parts of the unitary seal.

lilig. 3 is a sectional view showing the assembled unitary seal applied to a shaft.

l'ig. 'i is a sectional view showing the assembled unitary seal with a resilient protector ap plied thereto for shipment.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional View of a modied form of this invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the sealing member l is an annular sleeve of solid elastic or abrasion resistant resilient material, such as rubber, plastic, neoprene "Ameripol or the like. The word rubber as used in the description and claims is defined to include any of these materials. Neoprene is a trade name of a material believed to be made up of polymerized chlorobutadiene and Ameripol is a trade name of a material believed to be made up of a copolymer of acrylonitrite and butadiene. This sleeve is in the form of a spool having a body section 2 with integral spaced, outwardly projecting annular flanges 3 and 4 at the ends of the sleeve. The flanges flare outwardly. deviating from each other when the sealing member is a free body as shown in Fig. 1. The roots of the flanges form a part of the body portion 2. The spool sealing member l ls provided with the annular recesses t and t on the ends thereof.

lil

The outer faces 'l and 8 of the flanges 3 and 4 provide the sealing surfaces. A sullicient amount of material is provided in the flanges to provide an outward resilient force when flexed and to permit a considerable amount of wear on these sealing faces. However, an anti-frictional coating, such as a graphite, is applied to these sealing faces to prevent undue Wear.

The recesses li andt vare arranged to receive the guard members or washers t and it respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. These washers may be made of any suitable material but are preferably cut from paperboard or fiber and when assembled in their respective recesses they have considerable clearance with the bore of the sleeve as Well as from the sealing faces 'l and t as shown in Fig. 5. These washers guard against the extrusion longitudinally of the flexible rubber sleeve i due to axial movement of the shaft or member on which it is mounted.

A driving friction retaining band li is mounted around the body t of the sleeve between the flanges 3 and i as shown in Fig. 2. This band is preferably made of metal and its inner diameter is preferably slightly less than the diameter of the sleeve body to provide a driving grip by the latter on the surface of the member on which it is mounted. Adequate clearance is provided between the ends of the band .il and the flanges 3 and t of the sleeve when the latter is assembled in its housing il to permit fluid pressure to be effective on the flange surface. However if it is desired to provide initial lateral compressive force on the flanges the band may be made Wider but in such case the external dif ameter of the band should not be greater than the flanges.

The housing I2 is made up in two halves. the male section I3 and the female section I4. The housing sections are cup shaped with their radial portion dished inwardly as shown at |51. These housing sections are preferably made of metal and the inner face I6 of the dished portion is formed to be an unblemished true radial face normal to the axis of the opening Il in the radial portion. This opening is greater in diameter than the hole in the Washers 9 and I0 which in turn are greater in diameter thanthe bore of the sleeve I as shown in Fig. 3.

The axial flange I8 of the male housing sction I3 is formed to snugly t into the axial flange I9 of the female housing I4 which provides a fluid tight joint. Thus the housing is assembled by pressing the axial ange of the male section into the female section and the accuracy in forming these axial flanges maintains the friction sealing surfaces I6 normal to the axis of the housing. The depth of the male flange I8 acts as a gauge in determining the distance between the sealing faces I6 of the housing members as the flange I8 bottoms against the undished portion of the female housing sec- 'tion I4. 'I'he outer edge of the flange I9 of the housing section I4 is beveled as shown at 20 so that it may be spun or peened over the rounded corner 2| of the housing section I3, as shown in Fig. 3, to lock the members together and increase the sealing effect of this joint.

When the band II and the guard washers are assembled on the sealing member and the latter is placed in the housing section I3, the housing section I4 is pressed thereon and the edge 20 is then spun or pressed over to complete the untary seal member. This assembly accurately gauges the pressure exerted by the flanges on sealing surfaces I6. W'hen assembled as shown in Fig. 5 a greater portion of the sealing faces 1 and 8 o f the flanges are in engagement with the sealing faces I6 of the housing as the flange faces are disposed at a slight angle to the wearing faces I6. The flexing of the flanges created by the gauge action of the flange I8 provides a constant initial pressure by the flanges against the sealing surfaces I6 of the housing sections. This initial force is sufficient to provide a seal between the chamber 23 and either side of the sealing member when the bore of the sleeve is sealed on a shaft.

An illustration of the application of the seal is shown in Fig. 3 wherein the shaft 24 extends through the opening 25 in the casing 26. The casing is provided with a sealing chamber 21 suflielently large in diameter to receive the seal member. The shaft 24 is supported by the antifriction bearing 28 the outer race of which is seated against the shoulder 29 in the opening 25. A gland member 38 is provided with an inner annular chamber 3| in which the housing I2 of the sealing member is inserted, it being preferable to form the chamber 3I so that the housing I2 is required to be press-fitted into place as shown in Fig. 3. Thus any heat developed by the friction of the flanges 1 and 8 against the inner annular surfaces I6 of the housing I2 due to high speeds of the shaft 24 may be dissipated directly to the gland member 30. The gland member 30 is provided with an annular flange 32 having a series of spaced openings for receiving the clamping bolts 33 which engage the aligned. threaded holes in the housing for the purpose of clamping the gland member 30 to the casing 26. The flange 32 of the gland member 30 may be provided with a. suitable sealing washer for sealing the gland member relative to the casing 26. Inthis manner the exterior of the seal `member may be sealed relative to the casing 26. yThe gland member30 may be drawn up very tightly without distorting or otherwise harming the sealing faces I6 of the housing sections I3 and I4. If the assembly of the sealing member requires any pressure axially of the casing I2 the axial flanges I8 and I9 provide excellent support for the full circumference of the sealing member against a clamping pressure.

-The shaft 24 is preferably slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of the bore of the sleeve when the band II is not mounted thereon. With the band in place the diameter of the bore of the sleeve may be further reduced and the sealing member I must be further deformed to slide it on the shaft. However the guard wash- 4 ers 9 and I0 prevent the sealing member from rolling or extruding out of the housing along the shaft.

When in place as shown in Fig. 3 the bore of the resilient sealing member I grips the shaft 24. The guard washers 9 and I8 are spaced from the shaft and have clearance with the sealing faces I6 in the housing. The bore of the openings I1 in the housing sections are spaced further from the shaft 24 than the guard rings and ample clearance is allowed between the casing opening 25 and the glandmember 36 with respect to the shaft 24.

A reasonable amount of misalignment of the shaft 24 or a wobbling action due to an unbalanced shaft will flex the resilient sealing member I but will not interrupt the sealing action of the flanges. As the shaft 24 rotates the friction grip by the resilient sealing member I causes it to rotate with the shaft and rotary contact occurs between the faces 1 and 8 of the flanges and the sealing surfaces I6 on the housing sections. If the chamber 3I in the casing 26 contains fluid under pressure it will move out through the opening 25 and travel radially up past the flange 3 to the chamber 23 of the sealing member. When the pressure in the chamber -23 approaches the pressure in the chamber 21 the sealing face 1 of the flange 3 is effective in producing a seal on the inside while the surface of the flange 4 is effective in maintaining its seal all the time. Fluid under pressure in chamber 23 acts on the flange surfaces to increase the contact pressure between the faces 1 and 8 and their respective housing sealing surfaces I6.

One of the important features of this improvement lies in the fact that the sealing surfaces, between which relative movement is had, can be manufactured with precision and when the sealing member is assembled there is nothing to harm these surfaces. This unitary seal does not depend upon the construction of the device on which it is applied as no accurate surfaces are required of the device being sealed. The sealing unit literally floats relative to the shaft and the relatively moving parts can not shift sufficiently to prevent proper sealing action. The sealing member I which grips the shaft produces an adequate seal even though the shaft wobbles or vibrates, as such movement is taken up by the body 2 and does not affect the sealing action of the faces of the flanges 3 and 4.

During shipment and nonuse the sealing unit is protected by the flexible resilient spool 52 as shown in Fig. 4. This spool may be made of rubber or other suitable material and when placed on the sealing unit as shown, it keeps the dust, dirt and other foreign matter from collecting on the interior of the unit. It ls readily applied and removed and prevents failures due to foreign matter that may be deposited on the unit when handled or stored, which is important for this seal.

In the structure shown in Fig. 6. the rotary shaft 4I is arranged to extend through the opening 42 in the wall 43 of the housing 34. The housing is provided with a circular sealing chamber 35 arranged to be closed by the gland member 36 which threadably engages the outer bore of the sealing chamber 35. The surface 31 of the Wall 33 and the inner surface 38 of the gland member 36 are substantially parallel and are polished as they form the sealing engaging surfaces for the flanges 1 and 8 of the sealing member I. The gland member 36 bottomsagalnst 5 the stop shoulder 39 in the chamber 35 after it has compressed the gasket 40 to seal the gland relative to the housing 34.

In view of the fact that the seal engaging surfaces 31 and 38 form a part of the housing and the gland member respectively, any heat produced due to the frictional engagement between the rotary sealing member I and these surfaces is quickly dissipated and the shaft 3| is sealed against leakage of fluid in either direction.

- The flanges of the rubber sleeve member I are designed to flare outwardly, deviating from one another and are provided with a mass of material uniformly distributed therearound. When the rubber is mounted on a rotary shaft, the centrifugal force due to this mass causes the flanges to move toward one' another in an efl'ort to straighten out radially. thereby reducing the frictional engaging pressure against the polished sealing surfaces even though the chamber between the flanges is subjected to the pressure of the fluid being sealed. This `is an important object of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a rotary shaft seal arranged to be slid over a shaft and mounted as a unit in sealed relation against the device through which the shaft extends, the combination of a housing having end walls with aligned openings to receive the shaft, a perimetral wall connecting the end walls to form an annular chamber, a rubber sleeve mounted in the housing chamber and having annular flanges on the ends thereof engaging the walls with an initial force to seal therewith, an annular recess in each flange adjacent the bore of the sleeve, a guard ring in each recess spaced from said walls and the shaft, and the bore of the sleeve being sufficiently small to 6 grip and seal on the shaft and rotate the sleeve relative to the walls of the housing.

2. In a fluid pressure seal between concentric members having relative rotary movement, the combination of. an elastomer sleeve mounted in sealing relation on one member and having spaced flexible circular flanges projecting toward the other member and away from each other when a free body, an annular end sealing face on each flange, spaced walls carried by the other member providing adjacent polishedsurfaces which overlap and confine the flanges to frictionally engage the sealing faces in continuous rotary contact to provide a rotary seal therebetween. said sealing faces being smaller than and spaced from the edge of said walls, and a balanced mass on the flanges of the seal member arranged to decrease the frictional contact pressure on the polished wall surfaces when the sleeve is rotated at an increasing rotary speed.

WALTER GILBERT. Bn.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

